Breaking: Judge grants Apple an injunction against the Galaxy Nexus

Apple alleged that the phone violated 4 of its software patents.

Judge Lucy Koh of California's Northern District Court ruled today in favor of granting Apple an injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Nexus phone. The injunction would seek to stop the import of Samsung's phone, which Apple alleged had infringed on four of its patents.

1. A means of detecting and marking up data like a phone number or an e-mail address, and then initiating a phone call or an e-mail when the linked data is clicked2. A means of searching multiple databases and sources for data3. A slide to unlock feature4. An autocorrect-type function that completes the word as a user types and allows the user to accept or reject the word

Reutersreports that the decision appears to have been driven by Apple's claim to the patent to search multiple sources, which Apple says is the basis of Siri. Reuters reporter Dan Levine, who was in the courtroom at the time of the ruling, tweeted that Judge Koh said, "'Apple has articulated a plausible theory of irreparable harm' [because] of 'long-term loss of market share and 'losses of downstream sales.'"

The Galaxy Nexus is Google's flagship device, and while the ruling will not have a direct impact on the import of Google's recently announced Nexus 7 tablet, it is surely a blow to Google during its IO 2012 conference.

Update: Reuters reports that Judge Koh "scheduled a hearing on Monday to consider whether to put the Galaxy Nexus injunction on hold pending appeal." In a decision earlier this week, Koh also granted Apple a pre-trial ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Koh said she might rule on Sunday whether to hold that injunction pending appeal.

Apple was ordered to post a bond of $95 million to enact the injunction, which would be used to pay Samsung damages if the decision is later reversed.